1. Field
The present invention relates to a standup exercise apparatus that simulates walking and jogging with arm exercise. More particularly, the present invention relates to an exercise machine having separately supported pedals for the feet and arm exercise coordinated with the motion of the feet.
2. State of the Art
The benefits of regular exercise to improve overall health, appearance and longevity are well documented in the literature. For exercise enthusiasts the search continues for safe apparatus that provides full body exercise for maximum benefit in minimum time.
Recently, a new category of exercise equipment has appeared on the commercial market called elliptical cross trainers. These cross trainers guide the feet along a generally elliptical shaped curve to simulate the motions of jogging and climbing. Generally they are large exercise machines using long cranks to generate a long foot stride. There is a need for a compact elliptical exercise machine capable of a similar long stride using a significantly shorter crank. Further, there is a need to adjust the length of the elliptical stride to accommodate users having different leg lengths.
Numerous combinations of levers and cranks to combine exercise for arms and feet can be found. Hex in U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,200 combines arm and foot levers for sit down exercise while Bull et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,233 combines arm and foot levers for standup exercise.
Lucas et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,880,225 offer oscillating arm levers coupled to the foot crank by a connecting rod. Dalebout et al. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,971,316 and 5,000,444 also shows oscillating swing arms coupled to the foot crank by an offset second crank and connecting rod. Lom in U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,533 offers oscillating arms driven by a crank-slider coupled to a foot crank.
Recently, there has been an effort to improve the up and down motion of stair climbers by the addition of horizontal movements. Habing in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,299,993 and 5,499,956 offers an articulated linkage controlled through cables by motor to move pedals through an ovate path. Both pedal pivots follow basically the same guidance path curve directed by a motor controller. Stearns in U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,993 shows a stair stepping exercise machine which incorporates horizontal movement using a combination of vertical parallelogram linkage and horizontal parallelogram linkage to guide the foot pedals. The parallelogram linkages serve to maintain the pedal at a constant angle relative to the floor during a pedal cycle. The pedal pivots move through similar undefined guide paths.
Standup cycling is described in various patents such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,563,541 (Sanquist) which uses weighted free pedals as load resistance and side to side twisting motion. Also U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,519,603 and 4,477,072 by DeCloux describe standup cycling with free pedals in a lift mode to simulate body lifting.
Standup pedal exercise is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,419 (Hyde) and by the DP Air Strider as previously sold by Diversified Products of Opelika, Ala. where pedal platforms move by dual crank motion but remain parallel to the floor. Knudsen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,680 shows an elliptical path generating mechanism with pedals having only one pivot allowing the pedal to rotate unconstrained about the pivot as in a bicycle crank.
Standup pedal exercise combined with arm levers attached to the pedals is shown in Kummerlin et al. German Pat. No. 2,919,494 and in Geschwender U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,050. Standup pedal exercise coupled with oscillating swing arms is shown in Miller U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,242,343 and 5,383,829 and in Eschenbach U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,729. All of these exercise machines use pedals having two pedal pivots which are guided by a first circular guide path curve generated by a crank which rotates through one full revolution during a pedal cycle and a second arc guide path curve generated by a rocker link or track.
A Passive-Motion Walking-Machine is shown by Blend in U.S. Pat. No. 219,439 having foot pedals guided by rollers which follow a curved track. Both front and rear pivots follow the same path as the foot pedal moves forward until the front rollers reach a switch plate at the forward end of the pedal cycle. The front rollers move up the inclined switch plate to roll over the rounded end to drop upon a lower track to begin the return cycle to the rear. Since the front rollers use the same track or guide path as the rear rollers through most of the pedal cycle, the pedal pivots are not guided by two separate different pivot guide curves. Furthermore, the switch plate is unidirectional for a non-reversable pedal cycle.
Recently, numerous large elliptical exercise machines have appeared in the patent literature. Rogers,Jr. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,527,246, 5,529,555, 5,540,637, 5,549,526, 5,573,480, 5,591,107, 5,593,371, 5,593,372, 5,595,553, 5,611,757 and 5,637,058 shows elliptical pedal motion by virtue of various reciprocating members and geared linkage systems. Miller in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,518,473, 5,562,574, 5,611,756, 5,518,473, 5,562,574 and 5,577,985 also shows elliptical pedal motion using reciprocating members and various linkage mechanisms along with oscillating guide links with control links to determine pedal angles.
The Elliptical Cross Trainer by Life Fitness of Franklin Park IL, recently introduced to the Club Industry in San Francisco during April, 1997, also generates elliptical pedal motion using an elongated pedal supported by rollers on one end and an offset crank mechanism on the other end. None of these elliptical exercise machines anticipate a compact exercise machine having a long stride and a short crank as presented in this invention.
It is one objective of this invention to provide a compact linkage system that causes the pedal to move with a long stride elliptical motion. Another object of this invention is to provide pedals that incline the foot to simulate walking or jogging.
There is a need for a pedal operated compact exercise machine that can be safely operated in the standup position whereby the arms and legs can be exercised with the feet moving through a generally elliptical path while the pedals move with a smoothly changing angular motion during the pedal cycle.